An appellate court has vacated the sentence of a defendant because a trial judge did not assign him a new attorney when he sought to withdraw his guilty plea. The Appellate Division, Third Department, expressed doubt in People v. Zaorski, 103901, that Christopher Zaorski received a fair opportunity to withdraw his guilty plea to burglary and assault charges in Ulster County.
Justice Robert Rose (See Profile) wrote for the 4-0 panel that included Justices John Lahtinen (See Profile), Elizabeth Garry (See Profile) and John Egan Jr. (See Profile), that while a defense attorney is not required to support a client’s pro se motion to withdraw a guilty plea, the attorney may also not “take a position…that is adverse to the defendant,” People v. Mitchell, 21 NY3d 964 (2013).
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]
